Karith Foster Joins Ithaca College for CWTAJ? Premiere

"I grew up in Plano, Texas," Karith Foster began, "which has the ethnic diversity of a Klan rally!" The crowd roaring with laughter. Ithaca College YAL had the privilege of hosting humorist Karith Foster during our premiere of Can We Take a Joke? A featured comic in the film, Ms. Foster kicked off our premiere by warming the crowd up with an original routine.

Next, Ms. Foster introduced two student comedians from the Ithaca College Standup Club. These budding comics challenged PC culture by incorporating sweatshops, feminism and Trump University into their routines. One comic even poked fun at IC YAL, but of course, we could take a joke.

The fifty students in attendance came from a variety of different backgrounds and majors, but unified through laughter while watching CWTAJ? After the screening, Chapter President and NY State Chair Sean Themea led a Q&A session with Ms. Foster. We discussed Ms. Foster's career path, safe spaces, and how to use comedy as a tool for dialogue.

A group of students walked into the screening fifteen minutes before it ended. After the Q&A, they told us how offended they were by our inclusion of "Trigger Warnings" on the film's poster. We turned this into an opportunity for discussion on speech codes and outrage culture, and the students left wishing they had seen the film in its entirety.